The present invention relates to a compacting unit for groups of flat products arranged side by side on edge.
The present invention is especially suitable for use in the food industry and in particular for packing flat food products such as sweets, lozenges and similar, to which the following description refers purely by way of example.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,416 relates to a device for supplying an orderly succession of flat products, whereby the products, e.g. cylindrical sweets, laid "flat" and in random manner on a vibratory surface, are fed to a number of curved downfeed channels, each of which rotates the products substantially 90.degree. into an "on edge" position, and feeds them one by one into respective pockets on a respective screw conveyor.
Each screw conveyor feeds the products forward transversely and deposits them successively and on edge on to an output conveyor extending beneath the output ends of the screw conveyors and comprising a conveyor belt with a succession of transverse pockets, each designed to receive a group of products arranged side by side and on edge. The conveyor belt travels beneath a number of guide rods parallel to the traveling direction of the output conveyor, and each pair of adjacent guide rods defines, along the output conveyor, a respective axial channel along which are fed successively all the products fed on to the output conveyor by a given screw conveyor. In other words, the screw conveyors are so timed in relation to the output conveyor as to feed a respective product into each pocket on the output conveyor, and the output ends of the screw conveyors are offset so that each screw conveyor always feeds its products into a given respective axial channel.
Downstream from the last screw conveyor, therefore, each pocket on the output conveyor contains a group of products arranged side by side on edge, aligned in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the output conveyor, and separated in said perpendicular direction by the guide rods.